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Always under construction, always accepting suggestions!
The SF Modeling FAQ Version 3.4
Last updated 2/15/2004 ...
This FAQ was started in April 1997 as an answer to those questions that keep coming up.
Send suggestions and comments to CultTVman
1.0 SF Modeling
2.0 Trek Modeling
3.0 Star Wars Modeling
4.0 The Aurora Kits
5.0 WWW Resources
1.0 SF Modeling
1.1 What is SF Modeling?
"SF
Modeling", at least in my book, has a very broad meaning. SF can stand for many things... Sci-Fi, Science Fiction, Speculative Fiction, Space Fantasy, etc. The best way I can describe it is "Modeling
the Fantastic" or creating representaions of things that can
only exist in our imagination usually based on elements of science or fantasy. My website, CultTVman's SF Modeling (http://www.CultTVman.com) is mainly focused on the hardware of media based science fiction and fantasy, but the definition certainly allows for much more.
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1.2 Where can I find a kit of xxxxxxxxx?
A very good list of dealers can be found at
http://culttvman.com/links.html#dealer
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1.3 How do I build/glue/paint..... ?
Basic
model skills are like any skill... you get better as you get more experience. But there are also a lof of tricks that you can learn. One good source of information about building basic and advanced kits
is the rec.models.scale FAQ maintained by Don Schmitz at http://www.ninfinger.org/~sven/models/rms_tips/rmsfaq.1.html . Here you can learn about building, painting, and detailing. It tells you how to make your own decals and cast your own resin. Lots of information for every modeler.
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1.4 What is "recasting"?
Here are a couple definitions as they apply in the modeling hobby. These are my own definitions and some people do not
agree with them.
RECAST: a model, figure, or kit that is a copy of another person's product, made for the purpose of resale. It is done without anyone's
permission, and the original product producer is deliberately deprived of income. The maker of the recast kit often attempts
to pass off the model as an original. Recasts are almost always resin and are usually inferior to the original. Recast is term that carries negative connotations. It is a practice that is detrimental to the garage kit industry.
REPRODUCTION: the recreation of another model, kit, or figure that is no longer availible. The kit is clearly a copy, and no effort is made to decieve the buyer that this is an original. Reproductions may be styrene or resin recreations of original styrene or resin models. They are usually authorized by the original kit maker or licensed from the rights holder.
REISSUE: a new release of an old kit, almost always from the original molds. Sometimes a reissued kit is improved or retooled. Example: AMT/ERTL reissued the original 18" Enterprise many times over a 30 year period, though it was often altered.
RETOOL: To alter an existing metal mold, or create a new mold for an existing kit.
LICENSED: a product that has been officially sanctioned by the owner of the intellectual property.
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2.0 Trek Modeling
2.1 What are the scales of the various Trek models?
Here is a rough guide to most of the major kits:
- 1/2500:
from Ertl:
The Enterprise set #1 (TOS-A-D)
The Enterprise set #2 (B-C-E)
from Starcraft:
Nebula class
Scout/Destroyer (Franz Joseph)
Cargo Tug (Franz Joseph)
Constellation/Stargazer
Pasteur
Oberth
Excelsior
Reliant
- 1/1600
from Ertl
TOS Enterprise/Klingon D-7/Romulan Bird of Prey
- 1/1400
from Ertl
Enterprise C
Enterprise D
Enterprise E
Yamaguchi
Klingon Vorcha
from Monogram
Voyager/Kazon/Maquis 3 ship set
from Starcraft:
JemHadar ships
Promethious
Excelsior
Pasteur
Akira
TOS Enterprise
Enterprise A
- 1/1000
from Ertl
Excelsior
Enterprise B
from Polar Lights/Johnny Lightning
TOS Enterprise
TOS Klingon Battle Cruiser
TOS Romulan Bird of Prey [diecast late 2004]
- 1/650
from Ertl
TOS Enterprise (18")
Klingon D-7
Romulan Bird of Prey (?)
- 1/537
from Ertl
Enterprise A
Reliant
Klingon K'Tinga
Cutaway Enterprise (closer to 1/500)
- 1/350
from Polar Lights
Enterprise NX-01 [March 2004]
Refit Enterprise [late 2004]
- Other
from Ertl
Deep Space Nine 1/3500 (?)
Cardasian Galor 1/750
Defiant 1/420
Galileo Shuttle 1/50
There is an excellent listing of Star Trek ship scales at Ray Au's San Fransisco Fleet Yards (http://www.intouch.ca/rayau/sffleetyards/shipscale.html) Starship Modeler .(http://starshipmodeler.com/trek/trekscales.htm) Additionally Jack Bohn has compiled a listing of the Micro Machine scales (http://www.bright.net/~jackbohn/sf/micromac.htm)
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2.2 Have the Star Trek kits been discontinued?
Ertl and Revell Monogram discontinued thier production of Star Trek kits in 1998. However, Polar Lights has started their own line of Trek kits in
2003.
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2.3 Are there grid lines on the original television Enterprise?
The short answer is yes, but they are very, very faint (hairline). The "restored" Enterprise as it is recently
displayed at the Smithsonian Institution Air and Space
Museum cannot be considered accurate. It is too heavilly weathered and may have additionally gridlines that were not originally there. More information can be found on the IDIC Page http://members.aol.com/WMccullars/Grids.html
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2.4 What are the colors of the ships?
There are two trains of thought about colors. Some people want to duplicate what the studio models look like. Others, like me,
want the kits to look more like they do on
television. At the very least, the studio colors are a nice place to start, I tend to want to see them muted a bit. Personally, I want my DS9 to look gray brown with lots of shadows. I want my original Enterprise to look gloss white, with a little weathering. I'd like my Enterprise D to look Bluish but not sky blue. I want the escape pods to look slightly brownish, but not like brown blotches on the hull. So hopefully, this part of the FAQ will be helpful to all of us modeling both ends of the spectrum.
Federation Ships
The TV Enterprise:- Paul Newitt has provided the best
research on the actual color of the original studio miniture. Additionally, he has derived formulations for a number of common model paints. This information can be found at What Color is the Classic Enterprise [www.culttvman.com/what_color_is_the_classic_ente.html]
The Enterprise D: This was quite blue as described on the instruction sheets. The Voyager paint scheme at Rick Sternbach's Page http://home.earthlink.net/~rsternbach/Trek/trek.html can be followed with satisfactory results. Additionally, Rick Sternbach posted to rec.models.scale that "pastel green color used on every other "Aztec" plate on the hull." He also indicated that when the ship was repainted for ST 7, "the green was eliminated and the ship was covered with four shades of the hull blue, and each shade was assigned a different level of
matte/gloss. (thanks to Roger Sorenson)
The Enterprise E: The ever dependable Rick Sternbach posted in rec.models.scale that the ship was "a combination of Warm and Cool Grays."
Deep Space Nine: According to Rick Sternbach (as posted in rec.models.scale): "The
station basic color is a medium warm gray-brown, about 5.5 value (0=black, 10=white). The machinery insets are primer red and yellow ochre, and the insets on the edge thrusters are cobalt blue" and the model was "schmutzed up with
washes of a darker yuck brown." Modeler Roger Sorensen suggests "mixing gunship gray and med. brown, maybe 2:1. Details on the station appear to be yellow and dark violet."
Voyager: The Voyager paint scheme can be found at Rick Sternbach's Page http://home.earthlink.net/~rsternbach/Trek/trek.html. Also, Thomas Models has begun a detailed paint guide for the Voyager at Voyager Buildup!
Galileo: From Agatha Chamberlain: "Upper surfaces are Gull Grey and the lowers are silver. Use gloss to facilitate decals then finish with a semigloss. I think of the
shuttle as sort of the family car rather that a flat finished military vessal. Some cadet was probably responsible for keeping it turtle waxed"
Klingon Ships
Klingon (Old TV) Battle Cruiser: From Agatha Chamberlain: "Colors
recommended are good but bridge looks better painted with the intermediate Gull Grey color rather than the Sea Grey. The base area of the boom looks a little darker than the boom itself in the picture of
Matt Jefferies holding it. I used the Gull Grey on this. In the picture, you will also note the correct arrangement of the markings. The windows need to be redone. Fill in those STUPID holes! There is a
picture of the Klinon Battle Cruiser on the web. It has some good shots of the forward section with the correct window location"
Klingon K'Tinga from "Undiscovered Country". From Agatha Chamberlain: "The first time I built this I followed the instructions color choice and was definitely not happy with the results.
1) The instruction have
the overall basic hull color as Flat Gull Grey. This is too light. I
used, on my econd attempt, a color called "Dark Aircraft Grey". It is currently available as "Dark Sea Grey" 2)The "Light Sea Grey" is now too light. I just used a basic "No-Special-Shade Name" Grey
3) The "Euro Grey" was scrapped and I mixed an extremely Dark Grey (almost black)
Klingon Bird of Prey- From Agatha Chamberlain: "Chromate green is wrong color. I used European 1 Dk. Green lightened up quite a bit with some blue added. The
boom to from main hull to bridge is this color too. Rather than SAC Bomber Green. I used the reccommended Pale Green for the hull but I did it with a fine tip brush instead of spraying. This gave it a somewhat
streaky finish, but I brushed along hull plate lines (ie from wing base to tip) so the finish was delightfully weatherbeaten after I gave it a wast of dirty brown" Agatha also notes:I was looking at Roger Sorenson's Trek Reference Pictures (www.users.csbsju.edu/~rsorense/modelcitizen/) and took a good look at the one showing the upper view of the Bird of Prey. I was extremely dismayed to notice that the colors of the various panels on the upper surface of the wings were not symetrical as suggested in the kit instructions. This is reasonable- I've seen quite a few "home body repair" cars with mismatched colors on various areas of the car, or just faded areas as well as fresh painted ones".
Cardassians
Again, Rick Sternbach posted on rec.models.scale: The miniture "is very yellow ochre, something like a desert tank color, with reddish-brown sensor insets, colbalt blue accents, and a
pinkish-russet aft disruptor." Starfurrie@aol.com suggests using a tamiya xf-59desert yellow for the Galor.
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2.5 What is the story on the Enterprise and other models seen in Deep Space Nine's "Trials and Tribble-ations"?
I spent one day trying to find out all I could about the ships from this episode. There have been a lot of rumors going around: They were
CGI, or they were models converted to CGI, or evne that Paramount had borrowed the original model from the Smithsonian. Well apparently none of these are true.
I found the best information to come from Rick
Sternbach (rsternbach@earthlink.net) through various newsgroup postings. Here are a few quotes form those posts:
"the E, the Klingon ship, and K-7 were all new models. Sometime you just can't beat a good solid miniature. The K-7 even has a cute little
shuttlebay with a Galileo-type and an alien shuttle sitting inside, with a little sign on the back wall reading 'Welcome to K-7, Now Go Home.'"
"The E-nil in that episode was a new model. So was the
space station and the Klingon ship. DS9 didn't actively start using CGI for model ships until later this season."
Additionally, Mike Emory added these comments:
"I just wrapped up a conversation with Gary Hutzel, visual effects supervisor for Deep Space
Nine s Trials and Tribble-ations episode. So here are some tidbits from the man himself: As you kow, all-new models of K7 and The E were built by Greg Jein. They were used exclusively...all the ship and
station shots are motion-control shots of the
miniatures. There was no CGI used whatsoever..... Regarding the detailing of the E , especially the saucer topside grid pattern, the model is absolutely authentic, according to Gary. They re-transferred original film elements, enhanced and analysed them.... the miniature was researched to be accurate down to the very brushstrokes of the weathering on the ship. "
And finally this from Greg Stone ( stone12@ix.netcom.com):
"Having worked in the Special FX field for over 11 years, and worked on STTNG for 3 years, I can tell you that the new TOS Enterprise was
built by Greg Jein.... The Enterprise was over 5 feet long, totally scratch built.... The detailing was totally Greg's idea, it was his pride and joy, and he wanted to make it better than perfect."
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2.6 How do I obtain an "Aztec Patern" on my Federation ships?
The Aztec pattern is what really brings a Federation ship to life. However, the effect is
difficult to duplicate. Walker Enterprises has created a series of brass templates to assist you as you paint. These are availible from Federation Models at www.federationmodels.com . Visit the Trade Secrets page to see more about painting starships.
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2.7 Where can I see the original Enterprise model?
The original 11 foot model is again on display at the Smithsonian Institution. It is behinid glass, but you can get close enough to see
lots of detail Unfortunately, it is not illuminated. Photos from the latest display can be seen at Classic Enterprise photos (http://www.culttvman.com/mike_warshaw_s_enterprise_phot.html)
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2.8 Is anyone producing an Enterprise NX-01 kit?
Polar Lights will have a large 1/350 scale kit out in March/April 2004
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3.0 Star Wars Modeling
3.1 How accurate is the Millenium Falcon?
The Falcon has some serious problems. Jack Smith has made some wonderful panals to make the kit much more accurate. Visit
his Falcon Kits page at http://www.falconkits.com/falcon.html
Also, the cutaway kit is considered very inaccurate.
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3.2 Have the Star Wars models been discontinued?
Ertl is no longer producing Star Wars kits. The company was purchased by Racing Champions and they are no longer
producing science fiction models.
A Japanese company, Fine Molds has produced a number of 1/72 scale Star Wars kits that are considered to be extremely accurate. They are highly recomended.
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5.0 WWW Resources
5.1 Web pages
A good collection of SF Modeling resources can be found at CultTVman's SF Modeling Links
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5.2 Newsgroups
Late in 1997, there was an attempt to create rec.models.sf as an off shoot of rec.models.scale, however after heated discussion, the vote narrowly failed.
However, in response to the interest generated by the vote, alt.sf.scale-models was created in December of 1997. This newsgroup is not yet carried by many ISP's, so it is suggested you contact your service provider to encourage them to add this newgroup.
And don't forget rec.models.scale where you will find a great deal of discussion of SF Modeling. In addition, you just might learn something from the other people who build cars, ships, and airplanes.
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5.3 Mail Lists
Steve "CultTVman" Iverson maintains a SF Modeling list. It is not a true mail list, but he
compiles news and reviews into a semiregular digest. As of February 2004, there are over 1400 members of the list. To subscribe, send email saying "Subscribe SF Modeling" to SFMDmail@aol.com and you should recieve the next issue.
Gremlins In The Garage maintains a mail list for Figure Modelers. Details can be found on their website at http://www.gremlins.com/index.html
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